Financial adviser plans 1st District council run

A financial consultant and business adviser who has been active in City Hall matters pertaining to the Southtown tax increment financing district in the past year is planning a run for City Council.

JOHN SHARP

A financial consultant and business adviser who has been active in City Hall matters pertaining to the Southtown tax increment financing district in the past year is planning a run for City Council.

Denise Moore, 54, said she plans on focusing on economic development issues during her campaign for the 1st District council seat being vacated by longtime Councilman Clyde Gulley.

"The thing that impacts everything is economic development," Moore said Wednesday. "It touches unemployment. It touches safety. It will be huge to look at creative ways to bring more jobs into the community."

Moore, in a news release announcing her candidacy, said she plans to use her experience as a conduit for job growth, business investment and development within the district that encompasses Downtown, South Peoria and portions of the North Valley.

So far, she is the only candidate to announce an intention to run for the open 1st District seat. The election is April 9.

"We focus a lot on the Warehouse District and Downtown, and I'm a proponent of what's going on in the Downtown, but we have to be smart about it and bring the whole community into the process, not just the business community," she said.

Moore became interested in seeking a council seat earlier this year when issues surfaced about how Southtown TIF district money was proposed to be spent, she said.

In January, the council had considered utilizing portions of Southtown TIF district money to reduce the city's obligation on the $92.8 million Marriott hotel project, a move that riled many residents in South Peoria.

"I really decided to move forward with it on all that came out from the Southtown TIF discussions and the lack of information I felt the community was given," Moore said. "The lack of transparency I thought was inherent in the process."

Moore is no stranger to community affairs. She has served on the Tri-County Planning - SMART Goal Setting Committee, the Minority Business Enterprise Ad Hoc Committee, the Rain Garden Committee, and the Southtown Stakeholder Committee. She is a past secretary of the National Association of Women Business Owners and is a trustee on the Proctor Hospital Foundation Board.

Moore also led the founding of the Twin Cities' Black Business Alliance, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 to educate minorities and businesses about economic development. She founded WXRJ Radio, 94.9 FM in the Twin Cities.

Moore is married to Garry Moore, a WEEK-TV, Channel 25 anchor. They have one daughter, Selena, and one grandson, Kanye.

John Sharp can be reached at 686-3282 or jsharp@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnSharp99.